This is the first in a series updating stories the Tribune covered earlier in the year | Series

STANDING ROCK SIOUX RESERVATION — Gathered inside a school on the northern edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, six young adults kept President Barack Obama well beyond the 30 minutes allotted for their conversation.

Kendrick Eagle spoke about how he — at 21 years of age — ended up single-handedly raising his four younger brothers while attending college.

When his father died several years back, his stepmother turned to alcohol and drugs. His younger siblings remained under her care while he moved to Bismarck for school and later to Washington state.

He didn’t stay away long.

“I kept getting texts and calls from people in my hometown,” he said.

His brothers’ home situation had gotten out of hand. People were abusing his siblings. His brothers — one as young as 5 — wandered around Cannon Ball at midnight looking for their mother.